A Day in the Life of a Fire Lookout.

The video documents the (usually) very peaceful life of a fire lookout in the Gardner Lookout on the East Peak of Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County, California. I've been a Marin County Fire Department volunteer lookout for years and deeply love the mountain and the peace it brings to us here in the Bay Area. Perhaps this 6-minute video will convey some of the emotions I feel when sitting (and sleeping) on her peak.

"A Day in the Life of a Watershed Ranger"

My tribute to the Marin Municipal Water District watershed rangers, the protectors of Mt. Tamalpais on the 100th anniversary of their inception in 1917.

"The Way it's Supposed to Be" Tamthem

Mill Valley songwriter Dore Coller's story in song of the West Peak of Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County, California and how the Air Force moved in, blew the top off, used it for 30 years and then left without cleaning it up. Featuring performances by Bob Weir, Maria Muldaur, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Susan Zelinksky, the Zucker Family Singers, Lorin Rowan, Darren Nelson, Matt Jaffe, Caroline Sky and a citizens Earth Day chorus of over 120 souls.

For more information, go to www.invisiblepeak.com

Mountains Made of Chalk, Fall into the Sea, Eventually.

A Meditation on Impermanence.

The second film in my West Peak trilogy. -- The synergy of creative collaboration can result in magic beyond our imagining. Witnessing Genna Panzarella paint this 8x10' mural of Mt. Tamalpais as it was when it was whole, literally inside of what used to be the mountaintop, is akin to stealing a peek through the kimono of mystery... the misty mystery of impermanence. Created as part of the ongoing project to raise awareness about the need to restore the West Peak of Mt. Tamalpais. www.invisiblepeak.com

Full Moon Pacific Blanket - SF Bay

The Bay Area is famous for its dense fog, and when you're in it the fog is cold and grey. But there's another side to the fog and the only way to see what happens when it fully comes in and blankets the SF Bay Area at night is to be above it. Because Mt. Tam is closed to everyone but rangers and fire lookout volunteers after sunset, very few people have ever seen the majestically mysterious vapors of the Pacific ocean as it flows in to completely cover the Bay. What starts as a partial blanket quickly rushes in to fill the gaps and by 1am, the lights of the cities below eventually become completely smothered.

Tour of ruins of Cold War Air Force Station on Mt. Tamalpais | 360 video

Growing up on the West Peak of Mt. Tamalpais: Interview with Lisa and Madelyn Byrne

Two of the six daughters of Lieutenant Colonel John Byrne, commander of the Mill Valley USAF 666th Air Warning Squadron on the West Peak of Mt. Tamalpais from 1957-1959, speak about their childhood experiences living at the top of the mountain.

iPhone meets Steep Ravine

Sky Road Webb & Jane Hirshfield at a benefit for Mt. Tamalpais

Sky Road Webb shares Miwok stories and introduces poet Jane Hirshfield, who performs a reading of her poetry relating to the mountain, with images from Gary Yost. At a benefit for Mt. Tamalpais in Mill Valley's Throckmorton Theater on May 5th, 2016

Selected scenes from upcoming Mt. Tam fire lookout mini-documentary.

A collection of many timelapse sequences shot at the Mt. Tam East Peak Gardner Fire Lookout during one 3-day lookout shift in August, 2012. Pieces of these were used as a part of my Mt. Tamalpais fire lookout 6-minute mini-documentary for the Marin County Fire Department, "A Day in the Life of a Fire Lookout."

Music: "Geometry of Dreams" from the album "Bow and Cello" by Gretchen Yanover

Photogrammetry time-lapse composites of the Mill Valley Air Force Station

Mt. Tam West Peak Status Update

Doug McConnell and MMWD board member Armando Quintero discuss the progress being made to clean up the vestigial remains of the Mill Valley Air Force Station and restore the West Peak of Mt. Tamalpais to a natural state.

Mt. Tam Fire Lookout Glory (40 seconds)

A glory is an optical phenomenon that resembles an iconic saint's halo about the shadow of the observer's head. The effect is believed to happen due to classical wave tunneling, when light nearby the droplet tunnels through air inside the droplet and, in the case of glory, is emitted backwards due to resonance effects.

That's the Gardner Fire Lookout shadow in the halo. I was shooting this from the north catwalk of the Lookout on East Peak, which explains why the center of the Glory is where I was standing.

The angular size is much smaller than a rainbow, about 5° to 20°, depending on the size of the droplets. The glory can only be seen when the observer is directly between the sun and cloud of refracting water droplets. Hence, it is commonly observed whilst airborne, with the glory surrounding the airplane's shadow on clouds (this is often called The Glory of the Pilot). Glories can also be seen from mountains and tall buildings, when there are clouds or fog below the level of the observer. The phenomenon is related to the optical phenomenon anthelion.

Music: "Sky" by Sky

Hidden West Peak Forest

Short and immersive study (with a surprise ending) of a beautiful section of the forest behind the FAA radome at West Peak on Mt. Tamalpais. This area was closed in 1942 when the Air Force temporary radar site was installed there and it's still fenced off. My hope is that one day it will be a marked connecting spur from the International Trail where it intersects with the Lakeview Trail on Middle Peak, providing access on the northside over to the old helipad on West Peak. This will connect all three of the Tamalpais peaks for the first time in 72 years, opening up a new set of awesome hikes.

Mt. Tamalpais Air Force Station - Fog / Peace

30-second meditation on peace at the site of the former nuclear weapons targeting center on top of Mt. Tamalpais.